Tuesday 10 January – Matthew 17
God Crucified
In v.16 of the last chapter we saw how the disciples had finally come to realise that Jesus was more than a mere man. God had revealed to them that He was no less than the expected Messiah, the very Son of God. Now Peter, James and John are given a glimpse of Jesus in His glorified state (v.2, see also John 17:5; 2 Pet.1:17), and hear God Himself confirming His identity (v.5).
While they are still trying to get their heads around this amazing truth, Jesus has another bombshell for them: the Son of God is going to suffer and die at the hands of men! Luke tells us that this was the subject of Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah on the mountain (Luke 9:31). Jesus had already opened up the subject with His disciples (16:21), now He continues to prepare them for His death (vv.12, 22-23). Not surprisingly, the disciples found the idea both shocking (16:22) and devastating (v.23).
Yet we know that this is exactly what did happen. The Son of God Himself not only laid aside His glory to come to earth as a human being, but He actually allowed Himself to be put to death like a common criminal, in order to save us from our sins. Only after His resurrection, when God’s astounding plan for man’s salvation had been accomplished, did Jesus return to His place at God’s right hand.
Have you stopped recently to think about the sacrifice Jesus made for you? You might like to take the time now to read Phil. 2: 6-11 slowly and meditatively and then respond to your Saviour in worship.
Prayer:
* Praise and thank God for His amazing plan for human salvation and for all that He accomplished through Jesus’ death on the cross.
* Pray that God would give you an opportunity to share the good news of the cross with someone today. Ask God to show you if there is anyone you know who is ready to hear the Gospel.
Monday 9 January – Matthew 16
The Journey of Discipleship
When Jesus’ disciples became His followers I am sure they didn’t realise what was in store for them. It was the beginning of a roller-coaster journey full of new challenges, amazing revelations, times of complete bewilderment, great joys and sorrows. In this chapter we see a bit more of what it was like to be one of Jesus’ friends.
The first thing to notice is that they had to “unlearn” much of what they had previously thought to be truth. For example, as simple uneducated men, they had been brought up to have great awe and respect for the Pharisees and teachers of the law. All their lives they had regarded these men as the source of all wisdom on religious matters. Jesus’ attitude towards these religious leaders must have been quite shocking to them (15:12), but they had to learn to leave behind human wisdom and see things God’s way (vv.5-12). Those of us who have grown up with a form of religion without the power will find that we also have much to “unlearn” as we come into a fuller revelation of God’s truth.
Secondly, they came to realise that God could speak to them directly. They did not need to have brilliant minds to hear God speak, just open spiritual ears to receive revelation from Him (v.17). God is speaking to you. Are you tuning in to hear His voice?
Thirdly, they had to learn the cost of discipleship (vv.21-26). Following Jesus was not going to lead them to fame and fortune. Rather, just as Jesus Himself was going to lay down His life in obedience to God’s will, so they would have to let go of their own desires, ambitions and plans in order to grasp hold of what God had for them.
All these issues are as relevant for us as they were for Peter, James and John. What challenge is God putting before you today? Is He encouraging you to lay aside old thinking and ways of doing things? Is He wanting you to be more open to receiving revelation from Him? Or is He pointing out something in your life that you have not yet laid down for His sake?
Prayer:
* Pray that God would help you to learn and grow in your discipleship.
* Pray for anyone you know who is bound by religious tradition and has not yet come into the freedom of a relationship with Christ.
* Pray for any visitors who came to Ruwach Christian Church yesterday, that they will come to know Jesus better as a result of being there.
Sunday 8 January – Matthew 15
What Would Jesus Do?
Did you notice today how Jesus responded to the different people He met in this chapter? The Canaanite woman of vv.21-28 was a Gentile. It is unlikely that she was a religious person – she had probably never even set foot inside a synagogue. But she had heard of Jesus, and she believed He could heal her daughter. She approached Jesus with humility, recognising that she deserved nothing from Him, yet with a confidence that He would respond to her plea. And Jesus responded to her faith. Although His mission was to the Jews, He was moved to make an exception in her case, because she looked to Him with such desperation and expectation.
In the same way, the crowds of sick people aroused Jesus’ compassion (v.32). Like the Canaanite woman, they knew they needed to meet with Jesus. They were prepared to wait days, if necessary, in order to hear His words and receive His touch. Again we see Jesus’ compassion, and it challenges the attitudes of our hearts. Are we prepared to give our time and energy to those who are lost and in need of the gospel, even when it is inconvenient or we are tired? Jesus always made time for those who were seeking after His Father, whatever the circumstances.
By contrast, the Pharisees thought they were superior to Jesus. Rather than looking to learn from Him, they were quick to criticise and condemn (v.2). Jesus’ response to them was anger at their hypocrisy (vv.3-7). Although they appeared to be so religious on the outside, their words showed that they were full of pride and selfish ambition. They were actually a lot further away from God than the Gentiles and sinners they so despised. People tiptoed around them for fear of upsetting them, but Jesus saw the condition of their heart and was not afraid to challenge them. He knew that it was more loving to warn them of the error of their ways than to let them go unchallenged, even though they did not want to hear what He had to say. Are you willing to challenge wrong attitudes you see in others who profess to be Christians, or are you more concerned that others should think well of you? If we are going to be truly like Jesus there are times when we need to speak the truth in love.
Prayer:
* Ask God to help you to respond to the people you meet today in the way that Jesus would.
* Pray for each member of your cell group, that they would grow to be more like Jesus.
* Pray for Pastor Jacky and the elders, that they would have God’s wisdom as they respond to people.
Saturday 7 January – Matthew 14
Portrait of Jesus
This chapter shows us three key aspects of Jesus’ character – His compassion, His prayer life and His power.
Firstly, we see Jesus’ amazing love for human beings. Matthew tells us in v.13 that Jesus withdrew to a private place to grieve for His friend, John the Baptist. But His peace was quickly shattered by hordes of people who were not thinking about His needs but their own. I am sure I would have responded with frustration and annoyance, but Jesus did not. His compassion for needy people came to the fore and He put his own needs and desires aside to heal the sick and even to provide for their dinner!
Secondly, we see His dependence on His Father. Verse 23 is just one of many verses in the gospels that talk of Jesus taking time out to pray. After spending all day ministering to people, he must have felt tired and tempted to take a rest. But for Jesus, prayer was a much higher priority than relaxation. He was on earth to do His Father’s will (John 6:38), so nothing was allowed to get in the way of the time He spent communing with Him, receiving direction and power. As He had not been able to carve out any solitude during the day, He prayed nearly all night instead (from the evening until the fourth watch – i.e. between 3 and 6 a.m.).
Thirdly, one cannot read far in the gospels without seeing Jesus operating in supernatural power. In this chapter, we see Him healing people from all kinds of diseases (vv.14, 35-36), providing a miraculous quantity of food (vv.20-21) and even walking on water (v.25)! Nothing was impossible for Jesus, because He was totally submitted to His Father’s will and had complete faith in Him. God’s power was able to flow through Him without hindrance.
Jesus calls us to be like Him. In fact, He said His disciples would do all that He did and more (John 14:12-14). We see some of the first disciples’ early attempts to copy Jesus in this chapter (vv.16-20; 28-31). They were clearly very ordinary, just like us, yet we know from the book of Acts that they learned to speak with authority and perform signs and wonders just as Jesus did. If God can use them, then He can use us too!
Prayer:
* Ask God to help you be like Jesus – in compassion, prayer and power.
* Pray that God will affirm our message with signs and wonders as we at Ruwach Church reach out to our community
Friday 6 January – Matthew 13
He Who Has Ears To Hear, Let Him Hear
In this chapter Matthew has gathered together some parables that Jesus told. In vv.10-16 Jesus explains the purpose of parables. They were a means to separate those who wanted to understand spiritual truths from those who did not.
Some of the crowds that gathered around Him were just sensation-seekers. They wanted to see miracles, but they were not really interested in hearing Jesus’ message. Others were trouble-makers. They listened intently to what Jesus said, but not so that they could learn from His Words and allow them to change their lives. They were just waiting for Him to say something that they could report to the authorities. But there were others who recognised that Jesus had the words of life. They not only listened with their physical ears, but with their spiritual ones. They wanted to know what God was telling them, and they meditated over every word that Jesus spoke to make sure that they extracted every ounce of meaning from it. Then they acted on what they had heard.
These different kinds of response are also highlighted in the parable of the sower, in which Jesus talks about the four kinds of spiritual soil that the seed of God’s Word can fall into. So what kind of listener are you? Do you read these Bible notes quickly each morning and then get on with the rest of your day? Or do you let the truths that you have read sink into your spirit and change your life? Do you switch off during the sermon and think about what you are going to do on Sunday afternoon, or do you avidly listen to every word and make notes so that you can think some more about it later? Do you allow the worries and cares of everyday life to distract you and choke the Word that is in you? Do you let the pleasures of life take your focus away from the things of God? Do you let busyness push out your quiet time? Hard questions, but there is no point being exposed to the Word of God if we don’t let it take root, grow and produce fruit in our lives. How can you guard this Word today so that it does not get snatched away or choked?
Prayer:
* Ask God to show you if there is anything in your life which prevents you from hearing and applying the Word of God.
* Pray for all those at Ruwach who have responsibility for teaching
the Word – e.g. those who preach, those who prepare Bible notes and those who teach Junior Church.
* Thank God for the seed that is being sown in the Resonate Group, and pray that it will take root and grow in each young person who has given their life to Christ.
Thursday 5 January – Matthew 12
Out of the Abundance of the Heart…
Today we see Jesus in confrontation with the Pharisees. These men thought they were holy and righteous, God’s elite. Yet their attitude towards Jesus showed that their hearts were completely wrong and they did not know God at all. As Jesus pointed out, we speak out of what is overflowing from our hearts. So what did the Pharisees’ words reveal about them?
First, we see that they criticised Jesus and His disciples for the way they behaved on the Sabbath (vv.1-14). They were angry because the disciples “harvested” grain, then Jesus healed someone! The Pharisees’ comments exposed their complete lack of concern for human need and suffering. Their focus was on keeping the letter of the Law, not on understanding its principles or the God who set it in place.
Then they accused Jesus of casting out demons by the devil’s power (vv.22-24). The root of these remarks was their unwavering belief that they were right – therefore Jesus, who opposed their way of going about things, must be wrong. They were prepared to argue that black was white in order not to lose face. What pride and self-delusion is revealed here!
Finally, we see them asking for yet another sign to “prove” that Jesus was who He claimed to be – as if they had not seen quite enough to convince them if they were willing to believe. Again, by their words they were exposing their hearts – they wanted to set themselves up as judges over Jesus, and justify their unbelief.
Of course, we are not anything like the Pharisees, are we? Yet if we are honest we have to admit that we do say things sometimes that show that our hearts are not all that they should be. Make sure you listen to what you say today. What words of criticism, grumbling, unbelief, anger or unforgiveness come out of your mouth? What do these words reveal about your heart? Don’t be self-deluded like the Pharisees.
Prayer:
* Ask God to remind you of words you have said that He does not like. Repent of the heart attitudes behind them.
* Pray for Pastor Jacky and the elders of our church.
* Pray for the other church leaders in Haywards Heath, that they might come into a deeper unity and flow together in the things of the Spirit.
Wednesday 4 January – Matthew 11
Yoked with Jesus
Although John had allowed his imprisonment to bring doubts and discouragement into his mind, Jesus had nothing but praise for him (vv.7-15). Why? Because John had been a faithful servant, who had accomplished everything God had given him to do. He was the Elijah-type prophet whose coming had been foretold hundreds of years earlier (Isa.40:3; Mal.3:1, 4:5). His role was to be a messenger, to prepare people for the coming of Jesus – which is exactly what he did. The amazing thing is that Jesus said that everyone who comes into the kingdom of God has an even greater role than John (v.11). That is because he was part of the Old Covenant era, whereas we are blessed to live in the age of the New Covenant and the indwelling Holy Spirit.
As He did for John, God has prepared works in advance for each one of us to do (Eph.2:10), and at the end of this chapter He tells us how to go about this work. We are to take His yoke upon us and learn from Him (v.29). So often we feel weary and heavy-laden, as though we are carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. That is because we are wearing a yoke of our own fashioning, trying to please other people or meet the demands of a religious life. The yoke Jesus has for us fits perfectly and is a joy to wear. What is more, it is not a single yoke of the kind that used to be worn by milkmaids. The yoke described here is the double yoke that was worn by a pair of oxen. We wear one half, and guess who wears the other? Jesus! Yoked together with Him we will keep in perfect step with Him, not running ahead or lagging behind but working together in partnership to do what He has given us to do.
You may be wondering how we find this yoke? Well, we simply develop a life of intimacy with Jesus. John 15 reminds us that as we abide in the vine, so we will be fruitful. As we spend time reading God’s Word and in prayer, so He will drop things into our minds that will show us what to do. As we draw closer to Him we may find that we do less, but what we do will be more effective. Certainly we will find that meaningless, wearisome toil has been transformed into purpose and productivity.
Prayer:
* Thank God that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Ask Him to show you any burden you are carrying that is not from Him, and ask for help to put it down.
* Pray for other Christians who you can see are weary and are carrying heavy burdens. Pray that God would open their eyes to see His purpose for them more clearly.
* Pray for your cell leaders.
Tuesday 3 January – Matthew 10
Be Bold
Yesterday we were challenged to give ourselves as workers to bring in God’s harvest. Today we see the costs and the rewards of being a labourer in the field of this world.
Firstly, we see that it is Jesus who gives us the power and authority to reap the harvest (v.1). If we try to go out and do it in our own strength we will land up burnt out and disillusioned, because it does not work. It is God’s Spirit working through us that will give us the ability to do the things Jesus did when He walked the earth. If His preaching needed the validation of signs and wonders to convince people of the truth of His message (Acts 2:22), then I don’t think we are going to be very effective without them, do you?
Secondly, if we go out and do the things that Jesus did, we will get opposition and criticism, just as He did (vv.16-26). But God’s command is clear – do not fear men, but fear God (vv.26, 28). Speak out boldly what He has given you to say, do what He tells you to do, and do not worry about the consequences. If you let it, fear of man will cripple you spiritually. There are times when we cannot please both God and man, and we need to take seriously the words of vv.32-33.
Thirdly, we see that when we stand up for God, He stands up for us. When we are doing His will, we are in a place of complete safety, under the shadow of His wing. Not only are we precious to Him, but absolutely nothing can happen to us that He cannot handle.
So the challenge to us today is to be bold, be obedient to God and trust Him to take care of you. Ultimately it is the only safe place to be.
Prayer:
* Repent of the times when you have denied Jesus before man. Ask for God’s help to be free of the fear of what people might think of you.
* Thank God that when He calls, He equips. Ask for His help to do the same kind of supernatural things that Jesus did.
* Pray that God would raise up workers to bring in a harvest in the UK. Be ready to be part of the answer!
Monday 2 January – Matthew 9
The Labourers are Few
As I read this chapter I was reminded of the passage in Isaiah 61:1-2, which Jesus took and applied to Himself (Luke 4:18-19). Here we see Him doing all the things described in those verses – preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the broken-hearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. But I was reminded, too, that those verse do not just apply to Jesus – they apply to us, His body the Church, as well.
Wherever Jesus went there were hordes of people who were desperate for salvation, healing and deliverance. He was moved by their plight and full of compassion for them. He saw them as a vast field of wheat or corn, ripe and ready for reaping. But He also saw that there were very few who were willing to work to bring in the harvest. That is why He told His disciples to pray that God would send out labourers. As we will see tomorrow, the disciples soon found out that they were going to be God’s first answer to that prayer. After they had watched and learned from Him for a while, Jesus gave them His authority and sent them out to bring healing and deliverance in His Name (10:1).
How about you? Are you willing not only to pray that God would send out people to bring in the harvest, but also to be one of the workers? Each of us is surrounded by a field of people who need to be harvested. Do you have the same compassion that Jesus had for the lost? What can you do to start bringing people into the Kingdom of God?
Prayer:
* Pray that Jesus would give you His compassion for the lost.
* Pray that God would teach you to move in the supernatural so that you may do the things that Jesus did and be effective in bringing in the harvest.
* Pray for Ruwach Christian Church, that we will be effective in bringing in the harvest in Haywards Heath.
Sunday 1 January – Matthew 8
The Faith Challenge
The question posed by today’s reading is this: How is your faith doing? If we are flowing in God’s plan for our lives our faith should be continually growing. Jesus’ disciples had been with Him for a while and seen Him work many miracles, yet when the storm came – they panicked (vv.23-27)! Jesus lovingly rebuked them for their lack of faith. By contrast, the centurion – a Roman who had heard of Jesus’ power – had faith enough to ask Jesus just to “say the word”, knowing what He had asked for would be done.
I know my faith levels are variable – sometimes I have no doubt that God will do what He says. At other times, when I am going through some kind of storm in life, I have to remind myself that God is still in control. It’s at these times we need to go straight to God’s Word to stir up the faith that is inside us (Romans 10:17). Ask the Lord to take you to a passage that is relevant for whatever issue you are facing at the moment, then take time to listen to His answer/s.
Faith works in two ways in our lives. Firstly, it keeps us stable in times of crisis because we know that the “mountain” will be moved (Matthew 21:21-22). Secondly, it also helps us to become increasingly bold in what we will do for God. Jesus had no doubt that as He spoke healing (v.13), laid His hands on people (v.15) or drove out evil spirits (vv.16, 32), healing would happen. His disciples also learned to step out in faith (10:1), and when the Holy Spirit came they touched many people miraculously as Jesus had done (Acts 5:12).
We too walk in this same power, but we need to step out in faith to see it flow through us. Have you laid hands on anyone in the past week? Did you expect to see them healed? All you need is faith! As you start this new year, why not pray and ask God to increases your faith level so that you can do bigger and bolder things for Him than ever before?
Prayer:
Take some time with Jesus reviewing your faith and allow Him to stir you up during this coming year.
Ask God to do mighty things with your ‘mustard seed’ of faith today.
* Pray for your cell group, that together you would walk in boldness of faith to touch your community with healing and freedom.